Automatic timezone incorrect on Wifi

Automatic timezone incorrect on Wifi

I'm testing a hybrid phone/scanner that came from China and I noticed the time was wrong on it (we don't use the phone part), so I went into time settings and it was set to automatic date & time and timezone, but when I turned off automatic timezone it said it was still China even though I've been using the device for a week. When I look up our IP on the web it says it's in the US in the correct state so I don't understand why Android is not locating the phone by IP.

I've noticed on other Android phones the time randomly goes incorrect when off cell service (like on my old Droid 2 or Galaxy Tab which I keep the cell service off for), so this appears to be a bug in Android. Is there a way I can smack the phone so it does it automatically or do I always have to expect Google not to do this right and make me have to manually set the timezone (and sometimes the time)?

Re: Automatic timezone incorrect on Wifi

Not sure what's up with that hybrid phone, but in general, Android requires a cell signal to determine your time zone--it can't use Wi-Fi or GPS to do this. This isn't really a bug--it's just how Android works. Time and date can be determined from the web, but you have to manually select your time zone if there is no cell signal.

Re: Automatic timezone incorrect on Wifi

Why can't Android determine my timezone from Wifi when when every website I go to on a computer (or the phone for that matter) can tell me my IP address and location? Can't a timezone be determined from a location? This seems like a major design flaw in Android, especially considering the Nexus 7 did not originally come with cell service and neither do some other popular Android devices (nor are they required to).

Re: Automatic timezone incorrect on Wifi

Re: Automatic timezone incorrect on Wifi

I have/had a similar problem with a Mobii P785 tablet (not gsm, just wifi) with android 4.4.2.
After trying several options, I found out that it was the location services changing the time zone.
So here are my options/solutions that worked for me.

A) Use the GPS only option in locations services.
B) Disable locations services all together.